A banner year for Mary Immaculate Hospital

Guest Column

May 2017 marked the 65th year ofBon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital (MIH) serving our community. Established in 1952, Mary Immaculate was the first hospital in Newport News and has retained its commitment to providing continuous quality care.

As healthcare reform continues to transform care delivery, the Mary Immaculate team works to ensure that quality and safety remain central to its mission. Regulatory agencies and patient advocacy groups are developing tools and designations to inform patients of the performance of their local hospitals. Over the past year, Mary Immaculate has been recognized by several of these entities.

In January 2017, Bon Secours Mary Immaculate was designated as a Magnet® Hospital by the American Nurse Credentialing Center (ANCC). ANCC is the world’s largest and most prestigious nurse credentialing organization and a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association (ANA). Only about six percent of U.S. hospitals have achieved Magnet® status. As the gold standard of nursing excellence, the Magnet Recognition Program® distinguishes organizations for quality patient care and innovations in professional nursing practice. With this designation, Mary Immaculate became one of the first hospitals in the nation to be recognized by all four ANCC programs, including nurse residency, nurse fellowship and Pathways to Excellence.

In February 2017, Mary Immaculate Hospital orthopedic services earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for Certification for Total Hip and Total Knee Replacement, the first time this certification was awarded in Hampton Roads. The hospital earned this prestigious designation by demonstrating compliance with The Joint Commission’s national standards for health care quality and safety in disease-specific care; it is a demonstration of the hospital’s commitment to excellence.

This Fall, Bon Secours Mary Immaculate received four additional honors:

Best Hospitals Ratings and Rankingsin orthopedics by U.S. News & World Report. MIH earned a high performing rating, recognizing it as significantly better than hospitals earning the national average.

2017 Most Wired awarded by the American Hospital Association’s Health Forum. The survey examines how organizations are leveraging information technology to improve performance for value-based health care in the areas of infrastructure, business and administrative management; quality and safety; and clinical integration.

#1 Hospital in Virginia for Medical Excellence in Spinal Fusion and #2 in Major Orthopedic Surgery, based on Quantros’ CareChex® 2018 Hospital Quality Ratings Analysis.

These performance-driven recognitions have a significant impact on creating a collaborative and team-oriented culture, improving patient outcomes and encouraging research and evidence-based care. These outcomes are in direct alignment with the mission and values of Mary Immaculate Hospital. Achieving awards is praiseworthy; however, MIH’s focus is, and always has been, not the award but creating a culture that provides the best work environment for the team, ultimately achieving the best outcomes for the patients, resulting in the award.

Sister David Ann Niski is executive director of the Bernadine Franciscan Sisters Foundation. A strong advocate and supporter of the Virginia Peninsula not-for-profit agencies, she can be reached at 757-886-6025 or by e-mail at david_niski@bshsi.org.